


Away With The Fairies

by telperion_15



Category: Primeval
Genre: Fae & Fairies, Gen, Supernatural Elements, fairy rings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-28
Updated: 2012-01-28
Packaged: 2017-10-30 06:23:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/328743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/telperion_15/pseuds/telperion_15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Claudia finds something unusual in the woods.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Away With The Fairies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lsellers (Annariel)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annariel/gifts).



> Originally written as a birthday fic for lsellersfic.

For a woodland that potentially contains some kind of dangerous prehistoric creature, it’s very quiet. Too quiet, in fact – the soldiers left on duty by the vehicles (although they’re obviously guarding her, not the trucks) are tense and watchful, and Claudia can’t help noticing how firm a grip they’re keeping on their weapons.  
  
But then again, isn’t that what’s supposed to happen when a predator is around? Everything becomes still and silent, in an effort not to draw attention to itself. She supposes it’s a logical response.  
  
Not that they’ve found anything even remotely resembling a predator yet. Or even anything to indicate there’s been an anomaly here at all – either now, or at any point in the past.  
  
But there have been several reports of odd goings-on in the area – _enough_ reports and enough oddities that Lester deemed it worth investigating.  
  
But right now the only odd thing is the silence. And while the soldiers are jumpy, Claudia’s not sure that the lack of sound is in and of itself enough to warrant the team’s presence here much longer.  
  
The others – Cutter, Stephen, Connor, Abby, along with Captain Ryan and the rest of his men – have dispersed throughout the wood, looking for any signs of the mysterious phenomena that have become almost a daily routine for them. Claudia decides that as soon as they get back she’ll tell them they’re leaving. She could have one of her bodyguards radio them right now and bring them in, but after all, it’s better to be safe than sorry. The wood isn’t _that_ big, and they’ll be back soon enough. And then at least she can tell Lester that they did a thorough job of establishing there’s nothing here.  
  
A tiny flash of movement catches her eye. For a moment she thinks she imagined it, but then it happens again – the leaves of a bush twitching and shivering as something moves within the depths of the foliage.  
  
 _Just a bird_ , she tells herself, but all the same, she’s not quite convinced.  
  
Neither of the soldiers appears to have noticed anything, but as soon as she starts to move in the direction of the bushes they both stir and fix her with twin concerned stares.  
  
“Something the matter, Ms. Brown?”  
  
“No, nothing,” she replies quickly, uncertain why she’s dissembling, but unwilling to make a big deal out of what she’s seen. Or possibly _not_ seen. “I’m just stretching my legs, that’s all. There’s no need to worry.”  
  
“Perhaps it would be better if you stayed by the vehicles…”  
  
“I’m not going far. And besides, I think we’re all aware that we’re on a bit of a wild goose chase here.” Claudia smiles reassuringly, and is gratified to see the soldiers relax a little. “The others will be back soon. I promise to return before they do. I’m just getting a little bored stuck here, waiting for them.”  
  
It occurs to her that perhaps that wasn’t the most tactful thing she could have said, considering that the soldiers have no choice but to stay where they are. But there’s not a lot she can do about that, and she flashes them another quick smile before heading off in the direction of the elusive movement.  
  
As she approaches the bushes she spies a trail disappearing between them, overgrown and narrow, but distinct nonetheless. For a moment she wonders whether she really wants to go delving through the undergrowth, and whether it wouldn’t be better to return to the vehicles and just wait for the others. But then some compulsion has her pushing aside the branches and plunging off down the track.  
  
She’s the only thing moving now, and the logical side of her brain tells her that the bird – _just a bird_ – will have been long since frightened away by her blundering around in here.  
  
But she perseveres, pushing further into the woods until, after about fifty yards and with startling abruptness, the trail ends in a small and perfectly empty clearing.  
  
It’s almost like being indoors – the bushes around the edge of the space form a boundary as solid as any wall, and the tree branches arching overhead meet in a tangle that blocks out most of the sunlight, leaving only a dim, greenish twilight to see by.  
  
And it’s even quieter here. It’s almost as if sound is muffled – as if, were Claudia to say anything, her words would simply be swallowed up by the silence, not allowed to disturb the peace.  
  
But none of that is what catches her attention first. For, sprouting from the smooth emerald turf that covers the floor of the clearing (and that’s not natural, she thinks to herself) is an almost perfect circle of mushrooms, a ring almost six feet in diameter, complete and unbroken.  
  
Claudia’s never come across such a thing in real life before, although she’s seen enough pictures that the term _fairy ring_ comes to mind instantly. And she wonders if it’s a coincidence, finding this in a place from which have come all manner of stories and tales of strange happenings.  
  
Then the absurdity of the idea strikes her, and she smiles a little, mentally shaking herself for being so fanciful.  
  
 _There’s no such thing as fairies._  
  
A sudden rustling and crunching from behind startles her, and she turns quickly, although berating herself for her jumpiness even as she does so.  
  
But it’s only Professor Cutter, emerging from the bushes, such a mundane intrusion that she laughs aloud in relief.  
  
But, as predicted, the sound drops dead into the silence, and suddenly she’s nervous again.  
  
Cutter, however, seems immune to the atmosphere. Or maybe he just hasn’t noticed it yet.  
  
“Here you are.” He smiles. “The soldiers were beginning to get a little worried, so I said I’d come and find you. I think they were convinced you’d run across something that had eaten you.”  
  
He sounds so normal that Claudia can’t help the smile returning to her face, and she thinks that maybe she is being silly, after all.  
  
“No, I’m fine, I haven’t found anything like that,” she tells him. “I did find this though.” She moves aside a little so Cutter can see the fairy ring.  
  
His face lights up with interest, and he takes a couple of steps towards it. For a split second Claudia has to resist the urge to pull him backwards again - _don’t step inside the ring!_  
  
But he’s stopped short of the boundary, and she pulls her hand back before she’s even really raised it.  
  
“This is fascinating,” Cutter is saying. “No one’s still quite sure how they occur – something to do with the growth patterns of the fungus, obviously.”  
  
“Not down to fairies or elves dancing by moonlight then?” Claudia replies. She’s aiming for wry, but obviously doesn’t quite manage it, as Cutter gives her a sudden sharp look.  
  
“I didn’t think you were the kind of person to believe in fairies, Claudia Brown.”  
  
“Oh, I’m not,” she says hastily. “It’s just…well, my Gran was very into folklore and things like that. I guess some of her superstition must have rubbed off on me.” She shrugs, self-deprecatingly. “You have to admit, it’s quite a mysterious phenomenon. Even if it is due to the growth patterns of the mushrooms, _why_ in a circle like that? Besides, I liked the stories my Gran told when I was little. Fairies sounded very romantic. If a little dangerous, too,” she adds.  
  
Cutter still looks disbelieving, though, and Claudia shrugs again, suddenly feeling the need to defend herself. “I’m not saying I give credence to the stories or anything. After all, my Gran believed devoutly in the Cottingley fairies until the hoax was revealed. She was so disappointed, but I wasn’t really surprised.” She looks at the fairy ring again. “Still you can’t deny that there’s something slightly supernatural about this.”  
  
“I suppose not…” Cutter begins, but then abruptly falls silent, looking around quickly.  
  
Claudia can feel it too – the hairs on the back of her neck rising, and that sudden tingle in the air. She realises what’s about to happen only seconds before it does, and an anomaly flares into existence.  
  
It’s very bright in this enclosed, dusky space, and she shields her eyes for a few moments. But when her sight as adjusted she drops her hand from her brow and surveys the dancing shards of light, realising with a shiver that the anomaly is hovering directly over the centre of the fairy ring, completely contained within its circle.  
  
It looks even more otherworldly than normal, and as she watches Claudia can almost fancy that she sees something _else_ dancing among the shards, something flitting here and there too quickly to be seen properly.  
  
“Amazing.” Cutter sounds appropriately awed. “What are the chances of that happening?”  
  
Claudia suddenly thinks that chance has very little to do with it, and her skin prickles with a premonition of danger. This time she does put a hand out when Cutter takes another step forward.  
  
“What are you doing?”  
  
“It’s not safe,” she insists.  
  
“Well, of course it’s not safe,” he replies. “I think we know that by now. But I want to take a look anyway.”  
  
She can’t explain to him that she thinks this anomaly might be a different sort of dangerous altogether, and instead increases the pressure on his arm. “Let’s fetch the others first,” she suggests, taking refuge in the normal way to curb Cutter’s enthusiasm. “Ryan won’t be very happy if you go off through the anomaly by yourself.”  
  
Cutter looks momentarily annoyed, but then gives in. “All right, we’ll do it your way. I’m sure the others would love to see this, anyway.”  
  
He lets himself be tugged away by Claudia, and follows her back down the trail to where they’ve left the trucks. Cutter’s talking about the anomaly before they’ve even really emerged from the bushes, and the others, back from their own fruitless searches, look excited and eager for a look when they hear his words.  
  
But when they return to the clearing, only a few minutes later, the anomaly is gone, and the fairy ring is still and silent once more.  
  
Claudia can’t help but feel relieved, and as they all turn away to return to the vehicles once again she resolutely ignores the shiver of movement in the bushes that she only sees out of the corner of her eye.


End file.
